LOWER LAKE — In a game that was all about offense early on, Middletown High School reliever Connor Chick made sure the Mustangs” big day at the plate wouldn”t be wasted.
Chick pitched 4 2/3 innings of effective relief and Middletown, trailing 5-3 after one inning, pounded out 16 hits to beat the Lower Lake Trojans 15-8 in a North Central League I North varsity baseball game on Friday afternoon in Lower Lake.
While the Trojans (1-3 North, 3-8) were reaching the midway point of their league schedule, the Mustangs (1-0, 9-5) were making their North debut because of a series of rainouts.
“Lower Lake did a good job of putting pressure on us,” Middletown coach Mitch Tucker said. “We”re just happy to get out of there with a win.”
The opening 2 ? innings featured no shortage of offense and shaky defense by both teams. Lower Lake led 5-3 after one inning, Middletown had a 7-6 advantage after two innings and a 10-6 lead after scoring three times in the top of the third.
Chick relieved starter Kyle Brown with one out in the bottom of the third and pretty much ended the fun for Lower Lake at the plate.
“When he came in, he settled things down,” Lower Lake coach Joe Mattos said. “Chick threw a good game. He was solid.”
Tucker agreed.
“Connor does a great job of keeping the ball down and throwing strikes. Basically he came in and pounded the strike zone,” Tucker said.
Chick allowed just two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth, by which time the Mustangs had already built a 15-6 lead. He allowed three hits, struck out eight and walked none.
While Brown struggled in his 2 1/3 innings, he didn”t allow it affect his day at the plate. The junior went 4-for-4 with a double, triple, RBI and three runs scored. His triple was one of four on the afternoon by the Mustangs.
Losing pitcher Kyle Buckingham, who worked two innings before giving way to reliever Johnny Meza, also did well at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double for the Trojans.
“Kyle did a great job at the plate,” Mattos said.
Neither team backed their pitchers, especially the starters, with anything resembling solid defense. Both squads were charged with six errors.
“You”ve got to play defense behind your pitchers,” Mattos said.
“Kyle was a victim of some extremely bad defense,” Tucker added, pointing to the Trojans” five-run first when a two-out error opened the floodgates. “All of their runs scored with two outs.”
Bryan Holt went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs for the Mustangs and Chick went 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.
Luis Martinez went 2-for-5 for the Trojans.
Middletown hosts El Molino in a non-league game today at 1 p.m. Lower Lake plays a non-league game Monday in Pierce and returns home Monday to take on Clear Lake.
